So what does Colorado do for an encore? The 21st-ranked Buffaloes have only three games left in December, starting with Friday’s 6:30 p.m. game against Elon at Coors Events Center.

Coach Tad Boyle can use the time as a little training camp. After Saturday’s 75-72 win over then-No. 6 Kansas, Boyle wrote a to-do list.

“We have to get better in every aspect of our game,” he said. “We met as a coaching staff. Our half-court offense must become more efficient, maybe adding a few things and getting us ready for conference play. Our transiton game, offensively and defensively, has to get better. Kansas exposed us and our transition defense. Andrew Wiggins coming downhill is tough to stop.”

Boyle may even practice more zone defense, which came in handy against the spotty Jayhawks. Boyle loathes zones but the new stricter hand-checking rules makes it more difficult to guard man-to-man.

“You’re seeing more teams playing more zones,” Boyle said. “We may run into more zones in conference play than we have in the past.”

Kensler joined The Denver Post in 1989 and has covered a variety of beats, including Colorado, Colorado State, golf, Olympics and the Denver Broncos. His brush with greatness: losing in a two-on-two pickup basketball game at Ohio State against two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.